I am your typical housewife living in high maintenance suburbia. I have a handsome husband, 2 kids and a flock of pet chickens. I try and feed my family with $100 a month. With the help of coupons, gardening and bartering I am able to squeeze the most out of our grocery budget and still manage to have a little fun along the way.

My 12 Goals for 2016 : Week 23 of 52

We were able to knock 4 payments off our contract in June {1 regular payment and 3 extra “principal” payments}. There were no dental bills to pay, but I am expecting to see a possibly large medical bill next month due to the HH’s Mohs surgery. We have absolutely no idea how much our portion of the bill will be after the insurance discount but since this will be our first medical bill for the year… unfortunately I think it’s going to be a lot. My guess is we won’t be making any extra payments towards the house next month, but we’ll just have to wait and see.

2. Buy Nothing New for 1 Year.

I didn’t buy anything other than food and mulch for the garden last week but I did pick up a set of 12 small garden trellises alongside the road. Yeehaw! I think they’ll be perfect for vining cucumbers and other vines… don’t you?

3. Track Spending and Figure Out New Ways to Cut Spending Even More.

I stopped by the local recycling center and snagged some cardboard and brown paper bags to lay underneath the mulch in the garden. 😉

In May I spent May $299.74! June will definitely be a lot less. 😉 I’ll talk more about that though tomorrow.

6. Go on 52 Dates with the Handsome Husband

No dates with the HH this past week {obviously} but he is healing nicely after his surgery. He said the back of his ear/neck is still really tight but most of the pain has subsided. He goes in later this week to have his stitches taken out and the bandage removed. Fingers crossed his skin graft went well.

So far this year we’ve gone on 14 dates and spent $191.60 out of pocket for our “dates.”

7. Turn My Wool Stash into $5,000.

I won’t be adding any new inventory to my EtsyorEbay“shops” for a few months {it’s a slow time of year for selling hooked rugs} but my hands are definitely busy hooking away on new projects that I’ll offer up for sale in the fall.

In April I sold $29.99
In March I sold $799.53
In February I sold $1077.27
In January I sold $1563.92

8. Get Rid of 1,000 Things.

Seriously. There is nothing to get rid of here. How freakin’ cool is that?

9. Read 52 Books in 52 Weeks.

I downloaded The Rainbow Comes and Goes for the road trip back to Washington and then immediately wanted to kick myself for not downloading A Man Called Ove!!! I was sort of flipping out but then I checked to see if it was available via audio from my library and yes, yes it is!

So later today while I’m painting the family room I plan on listening to it. Seriously. Why didn’t I think of that sooner?

10. Track Hours Spent Working on My Vegetable Garden and do a Cost Analysis at the End of the Year.

This morning I shared a new gardening post on Dig for Your Dinner if you want to take a look. I plan on harvesting radishes and lettuce this week. {Yay!} I’ll see if I can get the HH to send me some Washington garden photos so I can give an update on HIS garden. 😉

So far this year I have harvested 7 pound 2 ounces of fresh veggies from our backyard. I spent $19.40 at the greenhouse and about $16 on mulch.

Time spent working on Vegetable Garden in 2016: 11 hours 30 minutes.

11. 52 House Projects in 52 Weeks.

This will be my last full week here on the east coast before I pick The Girl up from school and head back to Washington. This week I really want to get everything that’s left on my list crossed off. I was planning on re-painting the front door this trip but with Houdini Lucy close by I don’t even want to attempt it. She has been an absolute angel {of course she has!} and I don’t want to close her up in a room while I paint the door so I’ll just do it next time.

My house project goals for this trip:

Finish painting the entire downstairs

Paint the kitchen table and chairs

Paint coffee table

Paint sideboard

Stain deck

Paint the front door {I’ve decided to do this in the fall instead}

Paint garage trim

Caulk the downstairs trim

Prune all the trees and hedges

12. Make all Birthday and Christmas Gifts This Year or Acquire Them for Free.

Nothing new to report this week.

How about YOU? Did you set any goals for 2016? How are they coming along?

No error in editing; she just means the bill will not arrive until the month or even six weeks following the surgery.
Mavis, I continue to be so happy for you re the mortgage payments! As Dave Ramsey says, you have the intensity of the gazelle! And I love the trellises – so unique!

What type of paint are you using for your furniture?
Also, are you going to recast your home loan? If you pay a considerate amount in principle you can restructure your loan and save a bunch of money in interest.

I had three whole days to work on projects over Memorial Day weekend. My hubby and son did a guys weekend to the Indy 500. I got a lot of projects done in the yard and garden. When it got too hot I worked on cleaning and organizing the basement. It was terrible. I had also planned to clean and organize the third floor family/playroom but didn’t even get the basement finished! I also enjoyed some time with friends and went to some yard sales. I would have totally picked up those trellis too!! I did rescue some things from the trash yesterday: a plastic Noah’s ark with animals, a freestanding clothes rack, and some little kids books. What I don’t use I will donate.